Jam Mechanics

Written by: Jam Mechanics
  • Summary

  • Two bands who span the Atlantic, having a chat across the planet. Drafting jams from random challenges, fantastic banter while we're at it. So just relax and watch our antics; it's the pan-Atlantic Jam Mechanics Jam Mechanics is a podcast hosted by Matt Johnston from The Narcissist Cookbook and Bug from Bug Hunter. Each week we'll take on songwriting challenges and present our finished "demo" after a few hour break.
    Jam Mechanics
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Episodes
  • S2E10: The Troppelganger
    Sep 23 2024
    The last proper episode of Season 2 goes back to the beginning. We get DeepBlueInk back in the Jam McCabin -- who doesn't love a good second chance?? Our Music: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Narcissist Cookbook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bug Hunter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠and our brand-new discord is here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ -- SPOILERS BELOW -- --- Challenge: "A second chance you don't deserve" --- BUG'S SONG Title: The Lighthouse Lyrics: On the tip of the island they left him to linger in a lighthouse that clung to the cliff by its fingers no comfort or company close to this coast where he dwelled like a Gargoyle, guarding his post They caught me red-handed, prepared my last meal then gave me an out -- I took the deal Stick to my station, keep my patrol my only condition: don't hurt a soul A hundred years pass me with no chance to slip then on the darkened horizon -- I spotted a ship With the darkness consuming, I lit up their path there's only one route through all the rocks and the crags I carved out a chance through the maze in the sea leading the ship up to rest on the beach The pilgrims abandoned their ship until dawn but the tide never sleeps, when they woke it was gone Without a ship to sail, the sailors advanced to the valley below where they set up their camps the timber was scarce here, which begged them to ask: Do we use them for shelter or use them for rafts? I watched from the ridge, an unreachable witness A fly on the wall with a spider's ambitions didn't surprise me at all that the first thing they did was divide into camps, their first building: a prison They dream of rescue, bless their hearts I've watched them build and tear apart Must now be years since they arrived why must the heartless all survive? Their children only know this place They know I'm here but not my face I pray they never seek me out Oh God, the stores I could tell They're not to blame, I wish them well Oh God, the stories I could tell Years on the island have settled the score The village below me is violent no more Then out of the sunset appears a new ship My heart begins beating -- I have to act quick with only one hope to correct for the night I leapt to my senses and smashed out the light By the light of the morning, there wasn't a sign of the wreckage that washed away deep in the night I swore to my captors I'd harm no one else but not doing harm doesn't mean that I'll help cause I've kissed the devil and can't be coerced of all God's creations, this is the worst with the lighthouse abandoned, I start to descend you can find me among all the souls I've condemned ------------ MATT'S SONG Title: Orchids Lyrics: I watch us from the dark garden Through the living room windows We are dancing You are laughing Revelling in the novelty Of my abandon This is new, you think, I see Your frown encroaches on your smile Or very old, you think But the worry's just a weed We spin around the room I am rooted in the flowerbed And you are crying laughing now And I'm just trying not to trample on the orchids Midnight it begins to rain I pull my jacket closer And you are snuggled on the couch with me and dozing Visibly relieved And I'm relieved as well, in my way I try to catch my eye But there's just no getting through to me This is Good, I think Hiding From the lights of passing cars If I can't live it Well I guess I'll watch it from afar You are warm and you are happy You are safe inside with me And I'm just trying I'm just trying not to trample on the orchids And as you sleep I watch me blinking In the television light And maybe get a little taller A little younger round the eyes This is new, I think Or something very very old But the worry's just a weed And I retreat into the cold This is good, I think In a way, a second start And if I can't live it Well I guess I'll watch it from afar You are warm and you are happy You are safe, at least I hope And I'm just trying I'm just trying I'm just trying Not to trample on the orchids
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    40 mins
  • S2E9: Void Tuesday
    Sep 9 2024

    On Episode Nine, Matt continues being Home Alone 2: Lost in New York and targets the most famous New York M&M vendor. ⁠⁠Heather Edgley⁠⁠ joins us to get us thinking objectively!


    Our Music: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Narcissist Cookbook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

    ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bug Hunter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

    ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠and our brand-new discord is here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠


    -- SPOILERS FOR THIS EPISODE BELOW --

    -----------------

    Challenge: "From the perspective of an inanimate object"

    -----------------

    BUG'S SONG

    Title: Sammy

    Lyrics:

    I am Sensitive, I know

    I get riled up at the smallest things

    and start screaming at the top of my lungs

    I am working on it

    but my job is very stressful

    Holy shit is that a frozen pizza?


    Time to cry my eyes out,

    out of my mind with self-doubt

    doubt you could live without me

    me? I defend you proudly

    cause I'm your last protector

    Hi, my name is Sammy, I'm your over-sensitive smoke detector


    Any locality may by ordinance require that smoke alarms

    be installed in any building containing one or more dwelling units

    in accordance with the uniform statewide building code

    in other words: you need me

    I know you're all frustrated by my beeping

    but where there's smoke, there's fire

    so where there might be smoke there MIGHT be fire

    ok I'll work on it

    but you've cooked that egg for 20 seconds!!!


    Time to cry my eyes out, out of my mind with self-doubt

    doubt you could live without me, me? I defend you proudly

    I am your last protector

    Hi, my name is Sammy, I'm your over-sensitive smoke detector


    They say when God opens a door

    he must also open a door on the other side of the room

    just one door will not stop me from yelling

    That's just how airflow works

    that's just a little physics tip for you

    inside a song inside a music podcast


    but to calm me down... I just need... HER


    Celia, Celia, Twirl for me love

    no concealing how I'm feeling when I watch from above

    Celia, Celia, this never gets old

    they've learned to turn you on first before they look at the stove

    Celia, Celia... the Ceiling Fan

    Celia, Celia... the Ceiling Fan

    (They're making bacon and I can't even fake a beep-beep because of you, Celia)

    (It may be my low battery that's talking they ain't changing me 'till Autumn, Oh Celia)

    (Learn good habits, change those batteries on daylight saving time, for realia)

    (and while you're at it change your air filters too, basic home maintenance, celia)

    -----------------

    MATT'S SONG

    Title: No Visitors

    Lyrics:

    no one visits me here but you i wish i could give you a little something in return under the silt, rocks and pillars of breezeblocks i was a queen once just like you in a temple on top of a hill on the rim of the woods and you want ask me something i can tell yeah i used to tell them stories in the vapour choking air and they kept me round because i told them what they want to hear now i call it like i see it so they took my crown away and i don't talk that much anymore these days cause no one visits me here but you no one visits me here but you tell me what do you see in me nobody's looked at me like you look at me for apollo knows how long i thought i needed fable and theatre for you trust me much at all but i guess a temple is wherever you go to find your god and you want to ask me something i can tell you don't need to keep your worries to yourself

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    46 mins
  • S2E8: Papers From The Mayor
    Aug 26 2024

    On Episode Eight, our heroes get mentally prepared for the long road ahead. Robert Evans from Behind The Bastards gives us a prompt that make us one with the road, and Matt moves to Times Square.

    Our Music: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Narcissist Cookbook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

    ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bug Hunter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

    ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠and our brand-new discord is here⁠⁠⁠⁠


    -- SPOILERS FOR THIS EPISODE BELOW --

    -----------------

    Challenge: "Driving so long you become one with the road"

    -----------------

    BUG'S SONG

    Title: On The Morning Commute

    Lyrics:

    On the Morning Commute

    Sing along with the tune

    I can throw on a podcast, a radio broadcast

    all the things I can do on the morning commute



    The beginning of the day is easy, I have a list of tasks to do

    Get up, brush teeth, make toast, eat toast, make bed, don't eat bed

    get dressed (required), comb hair (that one is optional)

    plenty of structure...

    and likewise my work day is a breeze

    between meetings that should have been emails

    and emails that protect me from meetings

    I am stimulated all day, left and right and from every

    corner of my cubicle, a beautiful hectic chaos that

    keeps my mind racing and taken up with TODO's

    but its that half hour in between...



    that damn morning commute

    Sing along with the tune

    I can throw on a podcast, a radio broadcast

    all the things I can do on the morning commute



    You know, we don't use what scientists call our "Active" brain when we drive?

    It's why we can hold conversations with passengers (or illegally as I found out, on cell phones)

    or completely space out and realize 10 minutes and 12 miles down the road



    And thats where you find me. Nowhere to run.

    Can't even use my hands to defend myself

    No amount of NPR or Arianna Grande can drown you out

    no crosswords to keep my attention locked down, and you know it

    You say "haha! your melatonin might've saved you last night, but you're

    legally locked into conciousness now, 30 minutes locked in a Mazda

    with nothing to properly stop ya, so you should buckle up bud, I've come here to haunt ya



    So I snuck out last night and went to town like the Grinch of Suburbia

    Climbing every traffic light and shaking the red and yellow glitter out of each one,

    flipping every stop sign around to it's "Go-Side",

    a couple well-place cones and now we have TWO northbound freeways and everyone else

    going south can just use waze or something

    Because I am getting this over with

    I painted over all the lane dividers on the way to work

    and had enough black paint leftover to paint a tunnel on a cliff as

    a shortcut to shave off another seven minutes... funny, isn't it?

    It took a drive to make me learn my limits

    -----------------

    MATT'S SONG

    Title: White Line

    Lyrics:

    low fuel light's been on for days

    i haven't seen another car

    since i passed petrol station

    must have a week or more



    i punched in your address but

    i don't think i remember you

    objects in the mirror disappear as they slip out of view



    i haven't stopped the car in so long i can't even tell

    leave it long enough you turn in to somebody else


    Show more Show less
    35 mins

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